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Stylus for Optimus V

TVCCS

TVCCS

Android Enthusiast
If you're like me, and struggling with no physical keyboard and large hands, I find a stylus is very handy to have around, especially for tapping in messages or lots of data. I can also be extremely useful to have in a car for typing addresses into Navigation, as Voice Search doesn't always get the address right or recognize it properly.

The screen on the V takes a rubber-tipped capacitive stylus meant to mimic the touch of a finger, rather than the pointy stylus many of us are used to...those will not work...I tried. Fortunately, as usual, there are eBay vendors out there with inexpensive styli.

There are two types of these stylus, one with a round tip, and one at an angle. My own preference has been for the round tipped version, as I find it's easier to use when the phone is in a windshield mount and I need to enter an address...the angled tip makes me need to get my hand/wrist below the phone to get good contact...not easy in a car.

There is also a small brush tip stylus that can be used with these types of capacitive screens...I tried one and found it to be the least responsive of the three types, but some may prefer it, as it's also the least likely to cause screen damage over time.

I also note these are the same stylus types as used for an iPhone, so they are usually fairly easy to find.

Round Tip

3x stylus touch pen for iphone 4 4G 3G 3GS ipod touch - eBay (item 300522414499 end time Mar-05-11 15:19:07 PST)

Angled Tip

2p Capacitive Stylus Touch Pen For LG Optimus One P500 - eBay (item 120682059135 end time Mar-09-11 13:11:41 PST)

Brush Tip

P201 3X Stylus Touch Pen For LG LS670 P509 Optimus S T - eBay (item 270681424273 end time Feb-14-11 21:50:54 PST)
 
Good to know...I did try a plastic tipped stylus from a Nintendo DS and it didn't work. I may have to pick up a round tip stylus myself!

BTW...your first link is dead.
 
Of course a standard stylus won't work - by definition, capacitance relies on the electric-charged feedback from your body on the surface of your skin (or anything with conductivity or anything that is dielectric). Thus, I've read quite a few threads on forums and DIY manuals on how to make your own stylus. Strangely enough, I accidentally made one with a wet piece of string. It conducted just enough electricity as I held it to work on my screen.

Other touch screens rely on two layers of conductive material separated by a gap. The two layers become conductive when touched, and a grid can pinpoint the area of touch - hence any stylus will work. A quick way to note this is by holding the screen at an angle of reflection of light and seeing if the light bends around where you touch - if the screen physically "dips" where your finger or stylus touches it.

Just google "DIY capacitive stylus".
 
I bought the first link provided, this one:

"Round Tip

1
3x stylus touch pen for iphone 4 4G 3G 3GS ipod touch - eBay (item 300522414499 end time Mar-05-11 15:19:07 PST)

and find it quite unresponsive. Like using a touchscreen with two or three layers of screen protector. I really have to press hard. Was that your experience? Or do you have more capacitance to feed into that metal stalk than I, with my old dry hands.
 
jj2me said:
I bought the first link provided, this one:

"Round Tip

1
3x stylus touch pen for iphone 4 4G 3G 3GS ipod touch - eBay (item 300522414499 end time Mar-05-11 15:19:07 PST)

and find it quite unresponsive. Like using a touchscreen with two or three layers of screen protector. I really have to press hard. Was that your experience? Or do you have more capacitance to feed into that metal stalk than I, with my old dry hands.
Click to expand...

I have to push on the screen some, yes. That's normal, to me anyway, for this type of screen with a stylus.
 
jj2me said:
I bought the first link provided, this one:

"Round Tip

1
3x stylus touch pen for iphone 4 4G 3G 3GS ipod touch - eBay (item 300522414499 end time Mar-05-11 15:19:07 PST)

and find it quite unresponsive. Like using a touchscreen with two or three layers of screen protector. I really have to press hard. Was that your experience? Or do you have more capacitance to feed into that metal stalk than I, with my old dry hands.
Click to expand...

It's the stylus tip you are compressing actually, it's not the pressure on the screen that matters with capacitive responses. The tip doesn't have an active human body attached to it, and so it's built up electrical charge dissipates without being replenished by natural motions/overflow/neighboring-areas-of-charge/etc. Pressing down on the tip compresses it, causing a slight piezio electric effect, which generates enough charge to affect the capacitive surface.

Anyone try a piece of sausage? I remember having a good laugh the first year the iPhone came out, watching everyone with one try to use it in very cold weather. Gloves don't work, and there weren't a bunch of capacitive stylus to choose from, so people were actually using sausages from street vendors in New York to be able to use their iPhones outdoors in the winter. ;)
 
Thanks for that information.

I got a Just Mobile Alupen, because it had the best reviews on Amazon. Still not like using a stylus on a resistive touchscreen, but much better than the 3-pack of cheapies. But I'm not using it much. It doesn't even serve well for tapping out numbers on the phone keypad (I guess from your explanation that since there's no sideways motion in tapping, it requires vertical compression, which I had incorrectly interpreted as pressing hard into the screen).
 
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